Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an intake module for an internal combustion engine.
German patent document DE 37 30817 C2 discloses a cylinder head cover together with an intake manifold system for an internal combustion engine having a four-stroke reciprocating piston design, which form an integral unit. The cylinder head cover of this integral unit is mounted on a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine by means of a seal and by screws. The screws are screwed into heads of coaxially situated fastening screws, which hold the multi-part cylinder head in position.
German patent document DE 10 2009 020 100 A1 discloses a cylinder head for an internal combustion engine having a cylinder head cover connected to the cylinder head via a sealing surface. An intake module as well as an exhaust gas module are provided, each of which is connected to the cylinder head via a corresponding sealing flange surface. The sealing surface between the cylinder head and the cylinder head cover is integrated into the respective sealing flange surface of the intake module and/or of the exhaust gas module.
It is also known from the series production of internal combustion engines that a considerable number of components of the internal combustion engine are necessary to allow efficient, low-emission operation of the internal combustion engine. This large number of components requires a complicated assembly, resulting in time-consuming and costly assembly of the overall internal combustion engine.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to an intake module for an internal combustion engine, in particular a motor vehicle, by means of which the assembly costs of the internal combustion engine may be kept particularly low.
Such an intake module for an internal combustion engine, in particular a motor vehicle, includes at least one air duct element via which the internal combustion engine is to be supplied with air. The intake module also includes a cylinder head cover, connected to the air duct element, by means of which a cylinder head of the internal combustion engine is to be at least partially covered.
According to the invention, a lubricant separation device and a cooling device for cooling the air are integrated into the intake module. This means that the air duct element, the cylinder head cover, the lubricant separation device, and the cooling device form a modular part in the form of the intake module, and as the intake module may be installed on the internal combustion engine, and thus in the rest of the motor vehicle, in a particularly time- and cost-effective manner.
The intake module may be at least partially preassembled as the modular component at the same time as the production of the rest of the internal combustion engine, and installed as a preassembled intake module in the internal combustion engine. The installation of the intake module is accompanied at the same time by the installation of the air duct element, the cylinder head cover, the lubricant separation device, and the cooling device. It is thus apparent that additional time-consuming and costly installation steps for separately installing the lubricant separation device, the cylinder head cover, and the cooling device are not provided and are not necessary.
Due to its modular construction, the intake module according to the invention also has advantageous testing capability with regard to a desired function of the intake module. In other words, the components of the intake module, i.e., at least the air duct element, the cylinder head cover, the lubricant separation device, and the cooling device, may be tested in combination for a desired functionality. Separate testing of the components is not provided and is not necessary. This minimizes the time and cost expenditure for carrying out the testing of the functionality or meeting the function of the intake module. Due to the very low number of individual parts of the intake module according to the invention, very simple logistics of handling are also achieved. The intake module according to the invention also has very small space requirements as well as a low weight due to the integration of the components into the intake module.
Another advantage is that the intake module has only very small tolerances due to a very low number of interfaces. In addition, the number of external lines, i.e., lines to be connected to the intake module from the outside, may be kept small. This likewise results in low weight, and solves and/or avoids package problems, particularly in a space-critical area such as in an engine compartment of the motor vehicle designed as a passenger vehicle, for example.
The lubricant separation device is used to separate lubricant, in particular oil, from a lubricant-air mixture or a lubricant-gas mixture. The lubricant separation device may be used, for example, within the scope of crankcase venting of the internal combustion engine in which so-called blow-by gas is exhausted from a crankcase of the internal combustion engine. The blow-by gas is formed at least essentially by the lubricant-air mixture or lubricant-gas mixture composed of lubricant and gas from the crankcase. Within the scope of crankcase venting, the gas or air component of the blow-by gas is returned to the air side of the internal combustion engine. The return also of the lubricant component of the blow-by gas to the air side is not desirable. To avoid this, the lubricant separation device, which at least predominantly separates the lubricant component from the gas component of the blow-by gas, is provided, so that at least essentially only the gas component may be led to the air side of the internal combustion engine and into at least one combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine. This keeps the emissions of the internal combustion engine particularly low.
The cooling device functions, for example, as a charge air cooler for cooling the air that is compressed by means of a compressor of an exhaust gas turbocharger. The supercharging rate of the engine may be increased by cooling the compressed and thus heated air. The internal combustion engine may thus be operated in a particularly efficient manner that thus optimizes fuel consumption.
It is thus apparent that the intake module according to the invention has a very high level of functional integration. The recirculation of the blow-by gas to the air side and thus into an intake tract of the internal combustion engine is particularly simple, since control and regulation elements for controlling and regulating the recirculation may be situated in a particularly close proximity to a withdrawal point at which the blow-by gas is withdrawn, and also to a return point at which the blow-by gas or its gas component is introduced. The withdrawal point is situated, for example, in a lubricant chamber or oil chamber of the cylinder head. The return point is preferably situated in the direction of flow of the air, downstream from the cooling device (charge air cooler) or in a clean air line to the exhaust gas turbocharger.
In one advantageous embodiment of the invention, a first connecting flange surface of the air duct element, via which the air duct element is to be connected to the cylinder head, and a second connecting flange surface of the cylinder head cover, via which the cylinder head cover is to be connected to the cylinder head, are situated at least essentially in a shared plane. In this way, the intake module according to the invention may be installed in a particularly simple manner, and produced in a time-saving and thus cost-effective manner. Correspondingly, a third connecting flange surface corresponding to the first connecting flange surface as well as a fourth connecting flange surface of the cylinder head corresponding to the second connecting flange surface are likewise at least essentially situated in a shared plane. The intake module may thus be installed on the cylinder head without complicated adapter elements. Particularly simple installation of the intake module according to the invention is provided in such a cylinder head in which the third connecting flange surface is integrated into the fourth connecting flange surface (or vice versa).
In another advantageous embodiment, the air duct element includes an air distributor by means of which the air may be distributed over a plurality of combustion chambers, in particular cylinders, of the internal combustion engine. The air distributor has a collection chamber, for example, in which, for example, the air which is compressed and to be supplied to the internal combustion engine is initially collected. A plurality of air channels corresponding to the combustion chambers and into which, for example, the compressed air from the collection chamber may flow, and from which the air may flow into the combustion chambers, branches off from the collection chamber. This provides a particularly high level of functional integration of the intake module.
It has also been shown to be advantageous when the cooling device is situated in a receiving chamber delimited partially by the air duct element and partially by the cylinder head cover. In other words, the cylinder head cover and the air duct element are connected to one another to form the receiving chamber, the cooling device being situated in the receiving chamber. The receiving chamber may thus be provided in a simple, cost-effective manner with only a small number of parts, which keeps the space requirements and the costs of the intake module low.
In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, at least one air line via which air is suppliable to the internal combustion engine is delimited partially by the air duct element and partially by the cylinder head cover. This results in a particularly cost-effective and compact design of the intake module.
The cooling device is preferably inserted into the intake module, in particular into the receiving chamber. The cooling device may thus be installed in a time- and cost-saving manner, resulting in time- and cost-optimized assembly of the overall internal combustion engine. This may take place in the longitudinal direction as well as in the transverse direction, relative to the main direction of extension of the cooling device.
In one particularly preferred embodiment, parts of the housing, in particular the upper housing part and the lower housing part, are connected to one another by screwing and/or welding, and/or gluing and/or riveting, and/or these parts are at least partially formed together as one piece. A particularly permanently seal-tight and easy connection of the housing parts to one another may be achieved using these connection technologies. In particular for connecting housing parts made of plastics, metallic connecting elements may be at least partially dispensed with when these parts are welded. The overall weight of the system may thus be kept low.
The invention also encompasses an internal combustion engine having an intake module according to the invention. The internal combustion engine includes a cylinder head to which the intake module according to the invention is mounted by means of screws, for example.
Further advantages, features, and particulars of the invention result from the following description of one preferred exemplary embodiment and with reference to the drawings. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned below in the description of the figures and/or only shown in the figures may be used not only in the particularly stated combination, but also in other combinations or alone without departing from the scope of the invention.